Method and apparatus for producing wire



March 12, 1935. '5, BENNINGTON 1,994,187

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING WIRE Filed Nov. 27, 1953 6Sheets-Sheet 1 H 4 INVENTOR."

MJW A MW ATTORNEY.

March 12, 1935. E. T. BENNINGTON D 1,994,187

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING WIRE Filed Nov. 27, 1935 ,eSheets-Sheet 2 :2 i I i H in 241.23

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ATTORNEY.

March 12, 1935. E. T. BENNINGTON 1,994,187

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING WIRE Filed Nov. 27, 1933 eSheets-Sheet 3 J w ggu ATTORNEY.

March 12, 1935. E. T. BENNINGTON 1,994,187

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING WIRE v Filed Nov. 27, 1955 6Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY.

March '12, 1935. E. T. BENNINGTON I 1,994,187

METHOD AND APPARA'J'LUS FOR PRoDucINe WIRE Filed Nov. 27, 19536'Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENTOR. I /M ATTORNEY.

March 12, 1935. E. 1-. 'BENNINGTON ,1 7.

' METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING WIRE Filed Nov. 27, 1955 eSheets-She et 6 INVENTOR.

QM J ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES 'PATET FEE METHOD AND APPARATUS FORPRODUCING WIRE Earl '1. Bennington, Huntsburg, Ohio Application November27, 1933, Serial No. 699,875

3 Claims. (CI. 80-34) This invention relates to amethod and apparatusfor producing small size wire. In order to bring out the utility and themechanical and economical advantages to be derived from, my improvedmethod and apparatus, it is necessary to set forth the method of makingsteel wire and red at present in general use. practice in the trade torefer to rod as the product of the hot mill regardless of its shape orsize and to wire: as a product that is produced after drawing on a coldwire drawing machine and which must be finished at a size correspondingto some standard wire drawing gage.

1 and the Morgan or continuous type mill. In

' pass.

modern mills the Garrett type has been displaced by the Morgan orcontinuous type of mill but there are still in existence a fewinstallations of the Garrett type mills. My method and apparatus is welladapted for use with both type mills,

although it is particularly useful when used with the continuous typemill.

The continuous type mill is practically automatic in its production ofwire rod and will pro-. duce 450 tons in a twenty-two hour day of No.rods, which are practically round and have a diameter of .207 of aninch, which is the standard size rod produced by practically all mills.In the continuous mill the billets are set into the back of a furnace insuch a way that each billet can be pushed by a power pusher through thefurnace when it is heated to the proper temperature forrolling. The rodis then pushed directly into the first set of rolls of the rod mill andthe billet passes continuously from there through the various essentialrolls or stands, usually ten or eleven stands. In passing through eachstand, the cross section of the steel is reduced and it shape isaltered. The billets usually start in the form of a rectangular bar 1 x1%" and in thirty-feet lengths and betweeneach pass the billet is turned90 by means of a guide before it enters the next Since the crosssectional area of the billet is reduced by each pass, the length of thebillet is correspondingly increased. Therefore, the speed of eachsucceeding set of rolls or stands must be increased to compensate forthe increased speed of the steel at each succeeding pass. By actualfigures the steel enters the first pass at It is common' a speed ofabout 20 feet per minute and leaves the last pass at a speed of about300 feet per minute on the older mills, and 4200 feet per minute on thenew and modern equipped continuous mills. At each succeeding pass thesteel is formed into a shape to be received by the next smaller pass andthere is a tendency to stretch the steel at each succeeding pass due tothe fact that each set of rolls is operated at a higher speed than thatactually required to pass its fin-- ished area. For example,- if a rodone square inch in area is traveling. at 1000 feet per minute,a'half-inch square rod will travel at exactly 2000 feet per minute; butthe peripheral speed of the rolls will be in excess of the speed of thesteel. The amount of increase of the peripheral speed of the rollsvaries with the individual ideas of designers and. engineers; but thereis usually be tween 5% and increase, which means that the rolls actuallyslip over the steel to this extent.

It is the usual practice in steel mills to finish hot at No. 5 size; andthis is considered the smallest size practical with the type ofrollingmills now in general use. The last pass of the mill' carries agroove which is intended to produce a round shape having a diameter ofapproximately .207 of an inch. After the production of No. 5 rods, theprocess of producing wire of various sizes is practically the same inall of the mills. As the rod leaves the rolling mill at a highertemperature than the billet enters the mill, the increase in temperaturebeing due to the rapid working 'of the steel, a coating or scale ofiron' oxide is formed on the surface of the rod which must be removedbefore the rod is in condition to be drawn through steel dies to itsfinal size. This scale, of course, would cut and injure the dies veryrapidly. Therefore, the rod, after it has cooled, is sent to what iscalled a cleaning house and submerged in a combination of sulphuric acidand water to remove the scale. After the scale is removed, the acid iswashed off the rod in a rinsing tank and the sull ,coat or rust coat isput on the rod, as it is assumed in some mills that this rust coat actsas a lubricant, facilitating the drawing of the wire. This sull coat isapplied to the rod in.what is called a sull rack. After the sull coat isapplied, the rod is submerged in a hot lime solution and a lime coat puton the rod. The object of the lime coat is to absorb any acids which mayhave remained on or in the rod and to act as a lubricant in drawing thewire through the die. The lime, after being applied, must be baked ordried and thereafter the rod is installed in what is called a baker andthe lime coat baked thereon. The rod is then delivered to the wiredrawing department where it is first pointed and then reduced to asmaller size by drawing it slowly through a die. The amount of reductionobtained in this first pass'is of course determined upon by the chemicaland physical characteristics of the steel. The speed at which it can bedrawn through the die is regulated by the ability of the die todissipate heat. The speed at which the wire is drawn through the dievaries in practice from about 150 feet per minute to somewhere in theneighborhood of 1000 feet per minute, common practice being abou 500feet per minute.

As the steel is limited in its ability to stand cold working and variesin accordance with the composition of the steel, it is usual practice todraw No. rod down to about No. 12 to No. 14 wire in the first series ofoperations. When the wire reaches this point in size, it becomes toobrittle for further working until annealed, so it is then delivered tothe annealing department where it is annealed by two processes, namely:the continuous process in which the wire is caused to move slowlythrough an annealing oven and while passing through the oven itstemperature is raised to an annealing point and then slowly reduced. Theother form of annealing, and probably the most satisfactory, is what isknown as pot annealing where the wire is installed in cast iron pots andthe pots placed in an oven which is raised to an annealing temperatureand then allowed to cool slowly. After the wire is annealed, it mustthen be put through the operation of cleaning and baking, etc. againbefore it is in shape tobe further reduced in size. The annealingoperation causes a scale to form on the surface of the wire the same aswhen it is first rolled. In mills that produce what is called fine wire,a wire of very small diameter, this process of annealing and cleaningtakes place several times. However, from the standpoint of tonnage, thegreatest tonnage is produced in the sizes from No. 9 to No. 14. Withinthis size range lies practically all of what is known as common wireproducts, such as nails, fence, barbed wire, bailing wire, ties and agreat deal of wire which eventually is made into rivets, screws, andhundreds of other devices commonly used.

I have devised a method and apparatus for practicing the same which willeliminate most of the cleaning, baking and annealing operationshereinbefore referred to and which will enable me to produce small sizewire, that is wire of No. 5 to No. 18 or No. 20 size in a continuousoperation and while the wire is still hot.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a method andapparatus for producing wire, particularly small size wire, with aminimum number of operations and with a minimum amount of equipment,space and man power.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatusfor producing wire of the character described in such a manner as toreduce to a minimum the cleaning house operations and the rehandlingoperations incident to the cold drawing processes hereinbefore referredto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method or process ofproducing wire of small size which consists in taking the hot wire fromthe rod mill and, while the wire is still hot, reducing its size bypassing it through or between rapidly rotating disks disposed with theirperipheral edges adjacent each other.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatusfor producing small size wire in a continuous process and withoutpermitting the wire to cool until reduced to the desired size, thusgreatly reducing the cost of production.-

Further and more limited. objects of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds and by reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view in side elevation showingmy improved apparatus in position to receive rod from the rod mill;Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are enlarged detail views of the series of disks whichperform the drawing operation; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view ofthe tensioning device through which the wire is passed as it emergesfrom the rod mill; Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 6-6of Fig. 5;. Fig. '7 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 7-7 ofFig. 5; Fig. 8 is a top plan view of one of the stands showing the disksfor reducing the size of the wire and the mechanism for operating thesame; Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view of one of the stands; Fig. 10 is atop plan view of the yoke or spider for removing the disks into and outof operative position; Fig. 11 is a view in side elevation of the spidershown in Fig. 10; Fig. 12 is a detail sectional view showing themechanism for operating the -spider; and Fig. 13 is a view in sideelevation of one of the stands through which the wire is drawn.

My machine or apparatus is designed to receive the hot rod from the rodmill, which is designated by the reference character 1. The referencecharacters 2 and 3 designate the last pair of rolls of the rod mill. Theapparatus consists essentially of a plurality of stands which areindicated by the reference characters 5, 6 and 7 which are supported oneabove the other in the position shown in Fig. 1 by means of supportingrods 8. It is of course to be understood that the number of stands maybe increased, depending upon the size of the wire desired. Supported onthe uppermost stand is a tensioning device 9, shown in detail in Fig. 5,which places a tension on the wire as it comes from the rod mill. Therod is delivered from the rod mill while hot and is passed through aguide tube 10 which is supported in any suitable manner.

The tensioning device 9 will first be described in detail, referencebeing had particularly to Figs. 5, 6 and 7. V

Supported on the uppermost stand 5 and projecting upwardly therefrom area pair ofsupports 11 and 12. Carried by the supports 11 and 12 is ahorizontal supporting member 13 having a threaded opening therein.Supported by the member 13 is a slotted block 14 having a threadas shownin Figs. 2, 4 and 7. The object of the scoring is to eliminate thetendency for the surfaces of the disks to acquire an uneven bearingsurface due to the peening action set up on these surfaces when rotatedrapidly. Without scoring these surfaces acquire a series of depressionsand extensions due to the metal at one point peening and moving to pileup at another point. With scoring the metal always flows towards thescormg leaving an even, round and smooth surface.

The disks 22 engage in slots provided in the block I .14. The block 17is provided with a cylindrical opening 23 in which is arranged a piston24 which is provided with a skirt portion 25 which is slidably mountedupon the tubular member 16. The lower end of the cylidrical opening 23isclosed by means of a plate 26 which is held in place by bolts 2'7.Leading through the plate 26 is a conduit 28 through which fluid, eitherliquid or air, is admitted to the piston chamber. The cover plate 26 isprovided with a conventional stuifing box 29. Surrounding the lower endof the skirt 25 and rigidly secured thereto is a yoke 30 in which arepivotally secured links 31, 32, 33 and 34 which project through angularenlarged openings provided in the arms 18, 19, 20 and 21, respectively.The inner ends of the links 31, 32, 33 and 34 are held in place by meansof pins 35. The outer ends of the links 31, 32, 33 and 34 are providedwith enlarged head members 36. When fluid pressure is admitted throughthe conduit 28, the piston 24 will be moved upwardly from the positionshown in Fig. 5 and the arms 18, 19, 20 and 21 will be engaged by theenlarged head members 36 and will be moved inwardly. rod mill isdelivered through the tubular guide 10 and thence through the tubularmember 16 and passes downwardly between the disks 22. This wire isindicated by the reference character 37. It will now be clear that byincreasing or decreasing the pressure upon the piston 24 the amount oftension placed upon the rod 37 may be varied as desired. v

Pressure cannot be applied to the tension device until the rod reachesthe power driven disks. Therefore, in starting each rod through themachine the tension device must be released and be closed quickly andautomatically as soon as the wire rod is gripped by the power operateddisks. In order to accomplish this I have provided a photo-electric cellwhich is preferably located in the tube or guide 10 at the proper point.When the end of the wire rod passes the photo cell, the circuit isclosed in the cell which in turn closes the circuit of a three-waymagnetic valve M in the pipe 28 which causes the valve to open and admitair to the cylinder of the tension device thus applying tension to thewire. When the last end of the rod has passed through the cell, thecircuit is automatically broken andthe'magnetic valve deenergized. Thiscauses the valve to close thepressure side of the line and open torelease the air in the cylinder and to thus permit the disk 22 to bespread so as to admit the next rod therebetween. Obviously there will bea lapse of time between the passing of the first end of the rod throughthe photo cell and the actual application of pressure to the tensiondevice. This lapse of time will be uniform for each size of wire and thephoto cell will therefore be located ahead of the tension device at theproper point to reduce toa minimum the amount of wire passing throughthe tubular guide 10 before the tension is applied to the wire.

The mechanism for reducing the size of the rod will now be described,reference being had particularly to Figs. 8 to 12 inclusive. Each of thestands 5, 6 and I is identical in construction and therefore only onewill be described in detail. Each stand consists of a circular bed plate38 which is supported by the supports 8. The bed plate 38 is providedwith four rectangular open- The hot rod from the' ings. Secured intherectangular openings are motor supporting plates 39, 40, 41 and 42.Each motor plate is pivotally supported at one side-by,

means of a rod 43 which extends through ears provided on the base plate38 and the motor plates, respectively. Carried by each of the motorplates are electric motors 44, 45, 46 and 47 from which extend shafts48, 49, 50 and 51, respectively. Secured to the outer ends of-the shaftsare disks 52, 53, 54 and 55, respectively, the outer peripheries ofwhich are grooved. The base plate 38 has a central opening thereinthrough which the wire rod extends, and disposed below such opening is ayoke or spider 56 shown in detail in Figs. 10 and which coincides withthe opening in the base plate 38. Extending outwardly from the yoke 56are four arms 57, 58, 59 and 60 having upstanding apertured ears 61thereon. The inner end of 82.011 of the motor supporting plates isprovided with downwardly projecting apertured ears 62 disposed attheopposite side thereof and which 'are disposed adjacent the aperturedears 61. Connecting the ears 61 and 62 are links 63. Projectingdownwardly from the bottom side of the motor supporting plates arelongitudinally extending bars 64, and secured thereto on opposite sidesthereof are arms 65 and 66 which are secured thereto by means of bolts67. The outer ends of the bars 65 and 66 are shaped as shown mostclearly in Fig. 9 and pivotally support a counterweight 68 which tendsto move the motor supporting plates to the position shown in Fig. 13.The spider 56 is provided with a centrally disposed threaded opening 69which receives therethrough a tubular screw 70 to the lower end of whichis connected an operating wheel 71. The upper end-of the screw 70extends through a boss 72 provided on the motor supporting plate 38 andis rotatable with respect thereto. By turning the wheel '71 in eitherdirection, the spider 56 may be moved Tp or .down. The arms 57, 58, 59and 60 being operatively connected to the outer ends of the motorsupporting plates 39, 40, 41 and 42, respectively, it will be seen thatthe motor supporting plates may be moved up or down by means of the handwheel 71. As the motors and disks are carried by the motor supportingplates, it will be seen that the pressure between the disks may beregulated by means of the hand wheel '71. It is to be understood thateach of the stands 5, 6 and 7 contains the same mechanism and that thedisks of each succeeding stand are shifted 45 with respect to the standabove or below it, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The motors all rotatein the same direction and'the speed of the disks is regulated by thegearing between the motors and disks. The speed of each succeeding setof disksis determined by the increase in length of .Wire due to thereduction area, of the wire and the speed of each succeeding set ofdisks is between 5% and 10%.- greater-than the speed of the wire. Thismay be accomplished by using disks of larger diameter or by changing thegearing providing the driving connection between the motors and thedisks. The size of the grooves in the peripheries of each succeeding set.of disks is progressively vice 9 and then downwardly through theseveral stands in succession. Assuming that No. rod is delivered fromthe rod mill at 4200 feet per minute, I can produce No. 12 wire at therate of 16,000 feet per minute. This requires that the peripheral speedof the disks be approximately 17,500 feet per minute to take care of theincrease in length of the rod as it passes through the apparatus. Thetensioning device produces a tension on the rod so that the large motordriven disks will have something to pull against in reducing the area ofthe Wire. The speed of the disks and the size of the grooves will be soproportioned that there will be about a 5 percent slip between the rodand the disks, so that the last set of disks will be pulling against thenext adjacent set of disks to some extent. As hereinbefore explained,this combina-- tion of stands can be carried on indefinitely and islimited only by the physical strength of the material involved. Ifdesired, I may make use of three disks instead of four. The finishedwire leaves the wire drawing apparatus through the center of the handwheel. The size of the finished wire depends upon the size of thegrooves in the last series of disks. If desired, a piece of pipe may beconnected between the several sets of stands toform a guide for the wirerod. It will also be seen that the operation of reducing the crosssectional area of the wire is continuous and carried out while the wireis still hot.

It will now be clear that I have provided a. method and apparatus forproducing wire which will accomplish the objects of the invention ashereinbefore stated. It is of course to be understood that variouschanges may be made in the particular apparatus used without departingfrom the spirit of my invention as the apparatus herein disclosed isonly one form of apparatus that may be used. It is therefore to beunderstood that the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed ismerely illustrative and is not to be considered in a limiting sense, asthe invention islimited only in accordance with the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination with a rod mill, of an apparatus for reducing thecross sectional area of the wire produced by the rod mill comprisingseveral series of disks arranged in alignment and having the peripheraledges thereof grooved and disposed adjacent each other, means forrotating the disks of each series at diflerent speeds, means for feedingthe wire from the rod mill between the first series of disks including atubular guide and a tension device and means operated by the passage ofthe wire through the tubular guide for controlling the operation of thetension device.

2. The combination with a rod mill, of an apparatus for reducing thecross sectional area of the wire produced by the rod mill comprisingseveral series of disks arranged in alignment and having the peripheraledges thereof grooved and disposed adjacent each other, means forrotating the disks of eachv series at different speeds, means forfeeding the wire from the rod mill between the first series of disksincluding a tubular guide and a pressure actuated tension device andmeans for automatically controlling the operation ,of the tension deviceincluding a photo-electric cell operatively connected with a magneticvalve for controlling the operation of the tension device.

3. The combination with a rod mill, of an apparatus for reducing thecross sectional area of the wire produced by the rod mill comprisingseveral series of disks arranged in alignment and having the peripheraledges thereof grooved and disposed adjacent each other, means forrotating the disks of each series at different speeds, means for feedingthe wire from the rod mill between the first series of disks including atubular guide and a pressure controlled tension device and means forautomatically controlling the operation of the tension device includinga magnetic valve for controlling the delivery of fluid to the pressurecontrolled tension device and a photo-electric cell arranged within saidtubular guide and operatively connected with said magnetic valve.

EARL BENNINGTON.

